Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 8, 1 August 1991 — Only ʻopelu remain [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Only ʻopelu remain

by Louis Hao Trustee, Molaka'i

Aloha mai! This is a story as told to me by my father about his life as a fisherman in Ka'ohe, Kona. There are no Hawaiian fishermen living today who continue in the old tradition to hanai the opelu. Hanai is feedinq,

mueh the same way a Hawaiian family would hanai a child, by feeding and caring for it. The opelu was also fed and cared for. Eaeh fishing district along the Kona Coast from Ho'okena, Pahoehoe, Honokua, Ka'ohe, Opihale to Miloli'i would adhere to a strict kapu system in whieh certain periods were observed specifically to hanai the opelu. No one was permitted to harvest or lay net during this period for opelu! The enforcement was self-imposed by the community, and eaeh fisherman would poliee himself and eaeh opelu district was designated by respective landmarks and boundaries. According to my father, the opelu were trained by feeding and were summoned by the pound of the eanoe paddle on the sides of the eanoe. This was a time for the opelu to gather and to be fed. The interesting thing was the behavior and the gathering of the opelu. It seemed as though the kamaaina opelu (au-a) would gather and would bring more and more malihini opelu from everywhere. The school of opelu would begin to grow and get larger and larger. The au-a was an experienced opelu (old-timer) having escaped from an opelu net at least onee.

The au-a was usually larger in size and understood how he was fed and when to exit the net at the appropriate time. Sometimes though the au-a was careless and would get caught with the rest of the opelu. Around the 1900s to 1930s, there were about six families who lived in the district of Ka'ohe. Eaeh family was responsible for feeding the opelu on a weekly rotating basis. Feeding would take plaee usually in April, May and June. Opelu fishing and farming were the important livelihood of the Ka'ohe district. During the winter months, usually November through February, the villagers would move mauka to mahiai (farm taro, sweet potato and bananas). The oeean would be rough at this time of the year so the people would farm. The harvesting period of the opelu would generally begin from late June through December and would peak around September or October eaeh year. lt was a tradition that a new net (upena) would be the first to lay for the opelu season. All of the other fishermen would accompany the fisherman with his new net to observe. After the net was laid, they returned to the beach to celebrate. Now they would kalua the pig, prepare the food, and the whole village shared in the festivities for the celebration of the new net. This was good luek for the fisherman and his new net. Hanai opelu ended in the early l940s when' World War 11 broke out ana tne respective iammes left the district to find employment elsewhere. There are still Hawaiian fishermen today who fish opelu, but none who would take the time to hanai the opelu. Today this tradition is remembered by only a few. The tradition is gone, yet we still have opelu in Ka'ohe. But the true Hawaiian fishermen are gone forever, and the opelu remain. Mahalo!